Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Water Tower and House

On top of the hill behind my workplace is a water tower, standing in the trees in the neighborhood of small and worked-over mid 20th century houses. This is one of those houses, added onto over the years but still small. Note the extension and different roof pitch in the back, and the little box-like vestibule added at the doorway. It looks like the water tower belongs to the house, but it is safely behind it in a fenced enclosure. This took about 25 minutes of work break time to draw, as I leaned against a telephone pole for stability. When I used to do this kind of drawing in Cambridge, Mass., I took a folding wooden seat with me so I could sit down and draw. I don't know whether I could do this now without attracting too much attention. A stranger sitting on a stool drawing a picture in any neighborhood would be watched. In fact as I did this drawing an elderly Persian gentleman I knew as a customer at Trader Joe's walked by and stopped for a few minutes to watch me draw.

Water tower house is Staedtler technical pen on sketchbook page, 6" x 6", June 18, 2012.